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Dear Tom, I am a homeowner who has filed a complaint against an HOA Board because of issues arising from poor governance under self - serving Board members. In Montgomery County, MD we are fortunate to have a Commission on Common Ownership Communities (CCOC) established through the Division of Consumer Affairs. The Board and I and our attorneys are in the midst of administrative hearings before a 3 person panel. Since this case is all about governance and covers a myriad of issues such as selective enforcement of rules and regulations, lack of transparency, flaunting of Bylaws and county and state law, irregular elections, denial of access to records, and more, I have used your website to reseach issues for the hearings and found it to be very helpful. The problems I have experienced relating to the question "Does CAI Support Homeowners?" are the following: When a HOA Board refuses to respond to or acknowledge serious concerns raised by a homeowner, the homeowner must seek relief through the courts or in very rare cases like mine, an administrative panel. Although the CCOC permits pro se appearances on both sides, the Board's D&O insurance provided an experienced attorney active in the CAI and other professional Associations so I hired an attorney too. The Board's attorney is aggressively defending the Board as he should but mentions frequently, as do certain members of the Board that he is "protecting the interests of the homeowners". In addition, in response to a recent "recall petition" filed by a group of homeowners, the Board (claiming to "protect the interest of all homeowners) called upon the HOA attorney (not the same person hired by the insurance company) to support their opposition to calling a "special meeting" by a mailing to petition signers and by an appearance by the attorney at an open Board meeting in support of Board policy. The two attorneys are doing the job the Board is entitled to and authorized to request, but in this case, at least 25% of the community (by signing the petition for recall of the Board) for the reasons stated above, must also tolerate the Board continuing to spend HOA money to protect what they see as the Board's interests, not "the interests of the community". Through legal posturing the Board will be able to delay a recall and stay in office long enough to remain in control of the information their attorneys and the community receives until the conclusion of the hearings. They have already scheduled the annual election late in the year (In definace of our Bylaws) thereby extending their own terms in office (for 3 of 5 directors) for months and even years in one case. I filed the complaint October 18, 2006. Enough evidence has already been presented so that these qualified attorneys for the HOA are now aware of many facts supporting the complaint. We have participated in mediation and settlement discussions without success. We have 6 more 3 hour hearings scheduled and hope to conclude the case by mid-October. If I prevail, the Board can still appeal "on behalf of the community". I am confident the CCOC panel will find in our favor and the "findings of fact" and "remedies" will be backed by the courts but at what cost to me and to our community? There seems to be an inherent conflict involved when attorneys have to do the bidding of a rogue board at the expense of an individual property owner who is paying her share of the Board's defense as well as her own attorney, all of us claiming to be acting in the "ibest interest of the community" . In this process, it is not customary for the losers to pay the winner's legal fees which means the Board members will have spent nothing out of pocket and I will have spent thousands. Meanwhile, poor property management and bad governance continue to compromise our property values. The lawyers who are "defending the HOA" know all this. How can they say they are acting in the best interests of the HOA? How/where does the CAI offer support to homeowners not on the Board in situations like this one? How do the lawyers who have to defend such a Board respond to these questions? In the complaint, I am not asking for monetary damages, only that the Board comply with our governing documents and State and County laws and regulations. The "system", no matter how innovative, works in favor of Boards such as ours to the detriment of the homeowners because individual homeowners are not usually able or willing to pay out of pocket for qualified attorneys. If the CAI has addressed these issues, please advise. Thank you for providing the opportunity to voice these concerns and for the information provided on your website. Jo-Ann Fiscina